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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
The Time Will Come |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Psalm 110:3 |
Date |
2005-07-17 |
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Psalm 110:3
Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.
Today signs of the last days continue to appear with the passing of time. Sins and evils are prevailing all over the world and the love grows cold. People will not believe in the Lord unless they see wonders and miraculous signs (John 4:48) and so many believers make the claim of their faith in the Lord but do not obey the will of God.
What shall we children of God do at this end time of the world? The time when our Lord Jesus will come again in the air draws nearer, and then what kind of life should we live?
What can we do to be fully awakened on the Day of the Lord's Power and accomplish His will and providence?
First, you must have the confidence and faith before God
When you have the spiritual confidence before God, you can proclaim the word of God and His powerful works and fulfill God-given duties.
Just as 1 John 3:21 says, "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God," to have confidence before God, you must have no sin and nothing in your heart that can be condemned. If you have any barrier of sins before God, you would be too ashamed to lift up your face before God who sees and searches everything.
If you want to proclaim and testify to the power of the Lord, you must look back on yourself before God and destroy all walls of sin. If any of you are in spiritual slumber, you must wake up. You must cry out in prayer to have communication with God and receive power from Him. When you have confidence before God because you have no sin to be condemned and have assurance of God's presence with you because you are empowered with His power, you can courageously proclaim and testify anywhere and anytime.
And each of you must strengthen and encourage each other to have this kind of spiritual confidence. You must clearly awaken the souls who sinned and lost strength due to their sins. You cannot simply point out the transgression and reproach them for it, you must awaken their souls. You must enlighten and empower them to turn from their sins, come out into the light, and walk in the light.
You must encourage them to realize the love and grace of God the Father and willingly turn their hearts. You must let them know what kind of sufferings our Jesus took to redeem us from our sins and that they can be forgiven when they rely on the blood of Jesus. Therefore, you must not judge or condemn even a person who committed serious sins, but pray that God will have mercy on them.
If you only rebuke them concerning their sins, those who are weak in faith will not repent. They won't turn their ways but stumble in discouragement and frustration. You people who are at the fore-front in faith, you must take good care of those of weak faith with the heart of the Lord, who did not break a bruised reed nor did He snuff out a smoldering wick.
Secondly, you must have the hope for your duty.
"The hope for your duty" here indicates the heavenly rewards you will receive from God when you have fulfilled your duties. In heaven, our dwelling mansions will be beautifully prepared and it is filled with the best things that cannot be compared with things on the earth. Each individual will be rewarded as he has sowed and done on earth according to the justice of God.
If you wanted to have something on earth but abandoned it because you chose to be faithful to your Lord-given duties, and if you could have something but forsook it because you were faithful to God's works, God will remember everything you have done and reward you for it. Therefore, you should rather hope to gain the better things of heaven than seek for and try to enjoy good things on the earth.
The greatest reward is given for the salvation of the souls. Our Lord says in Luke 15:7, "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
The task of saving souls has been given to every believer in the Lord. If you try your best to evangelize and fulfill the duties given you, then you will surely be recognized and receive the duties you have longed for. If you look up to heavenly rewards and long to receive duties, you can be deemed to have faith.
I hope that you dream to become strength in some aspect to the church, and a shepherd for the kingdom of God. Then I hope you run for the goal. I wish you hope for duties and long for more valuable duties.
It is said in Philippians 2:13, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." If your heart is full of the hope for those duties, nothing good of this world can distract your eyes from your goal.
1 Corinthians 9:25 says, "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." No matter how good the worldly things look and no matter how pleasant they are, they will not last for ever and finally they will corrupt and disappear.
If a person has no hope for his duty in fulfilling it, he does not work for God with faith. We are deemed true when we act in hope with faith. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law." Those who have no vision or dream live a valueless life like a man running aimlessly.
Therefore, I wish you hold unto your hope for your duties and heavenly rewards and have clear and detailed vision for accomplishing them. Depend on God so that you can be guided in the way of success. I pray in the name of the Lord you have clear hope for your duty, pray for it and fulfill it well so that you can glorify God the Father.
Thirdly, you must have the love without the fear of death.
The love without the fear of death comes from the attitude in which we never love ourselves but lay down our lives for the Lord and Father God. In the former part of 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear." Our Lord Jesus did not love only God but loved sinners as well. That's why He did not fear being crucified and killed at all.
If you have realized you were doomed to eternal death but have gained new life through the death of Jesus, you will confess from your heart the words of Philippians 1:21 saying that "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." If you have this kind of heart, no matter what kind of difficulties you may face in preaching the gospel, you will never fear but can march forward in faith with love for Father God.
Today's verse says, "Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth." When the time comes, many people will be prepared as clean vessels and dedicate themselves joyfully.
If you have perfect love within you, you will confess you love God and will do anything He wants. Then, you can confess the word of Romans 14:8, saying that "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."
The reason we hear the gospel was because many fathers of faith neither feared death in perfect love for the Lord nor spared laying down their lives. At the time of the early church, in the face of severe persecutions of Roman Empire which included being burned to death and eaten by lions, many believers kept their faith and preachers went wherever the Lord told them to go.
The gospel was spread to this country, Korea, about 100 years ago. When she was 26 years old, a woman missionary named Ruby Kendrick, crossed the Pacific Ocean and came here. But she died 8 months after she arrived.
The letter reads, "If I could have a thousand lives, I would sacrifice all of them for Korea." She came to Korea with a burning passion for the gospel, but died without seeing her ministry blossoming. However, the news of her martyrdom caused many young people to dedicate themselves as missionaries.
In addition to her, many dedicated themselves to the Lord obeying His guidance without fear of death because they loved the Lord. Although they did not see great works of power, they went wherever the Lord commanded with the love and without fear of death. How much more of a burning passion could we love the Lord as we have witnessed great works of the power and fiery works of the Holy Spirit at Manmin Joong-ang Church?
Dear brothers and sisters,
The time when we should proclaim the powerful works of the Lord has come. Therefore, may you become spiritual workers to awaken to the Day of the Lord's Power and accomplish God's will and glorify God and walk in the glorious parade in heaven, in the name of the Lord I pray! |
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